Harvey

Harvey Juric has been building custom homes for 40+ years and writing about energy efficiency for 20. He’s based in Tiny Township, Ontario, and leads ICFhome.ca, building energy-efficient homes across Southern Ontario.

Joined: November 4, 2013
Articles: 288
Comments: 140

Flooring and Finishes, Miscellaneous, Press Releases

Humidity in a New Home: Why Your Floors Split, Your Drywall Cracks, and the 35 to 50 Percent Rule That Prevents It

Wood moves with moisture. Dry winter air at 15 percent relative humidity shrinks every piece of wood in the house: floors gap and split, doors stop closing, trusses lift and crack the corner of the ceiling, mitres open, cabinet doors check. Humid summer air swells it all back and, past 60 percent, g

Harvey
February 11, 2015
2 Comments

Green Building, Miscellaneous, Solar Water Heating, Windows and Doors

The Cost of Greening a New Home in Ontario: Every Upgrade Priced, Ranked by What It Gives Back

On a 2,000 square foot house: air sealing to a tested target ($1,000 to $2,500) and R-10 under the slab ($3,500 to $5,000) are the cheapest wins; an HRV or ERV ($3,500 to $7,000) is mandatory in a tight house; triple-pane windows add $6,000 to $15,000; spray foam in the walls and roof adds $8,000 to

Harvey
February 8, 2015
1 Comment

Miscellaneous, Insulated Concrete Forms

ICF Foundation Pros and Cons (Ontario 2026): Honest Guide

Ontario | 2026 Strength | warmth | waterproofing | cost Honest trade-offs Part of: Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) in Ontario – the complete guide ICF Foundation Pros and Cons (Ontario 2026) If you are searching ICF foundation pros and cons,…

Harvey
February 3, 2015
29 Comments

Miscellaneous, Insulation

Spray Foam Insulation: What It Does Best, Where It Fails, and When It’s Worth the Money

Open-cell vs closed-cell Air sealing matters Moisture and code reality Not always the best buy Spray Foam Insulation: The Straight Story on Cost, Code, Moisture, Air Sealing, and Where It Actually Makes Sense Spray foam insulation gets talked about like…

Harvey
January 30, 2015
16 Comments

Architectural Design, Miscellaneous, Portfolio

How to Design and Build a Deck in Ontario: Permits, Footings, Guards, Stairs and the Ledger That Fails

In Ontario, a deck attached to the house, or any deck more than 600 mm (24 inches) above grade, needs a building permit; a small freestanding deck close to the ground generally does not, but check your municipality. Footings go below frost (typically 1.2 m, deeper north), the ledger is bolted to the

Harvey
January 29, 2015
8 Comments

Miscellaneous

Do I Have to Like My Builder? Yes, and Here Is What That Means in Practice

Yes. A custom build is six months of planning, six to eighteen months of construction and a seven-year warranty, and every one of those stages runs on judgment calls you will not see and conversations you will. Do not sign with a builder you do not trust, respect or want to talk to, whatever the quo

Harvey
January 18, 2015

Miscellaneous, Green Building, Insulated Concrete Forms, Insulation, Structural Insulated Panels, Timber Frame and Log Homes

ICF Foundation Cost

Ontario Costs Basement & Footings ICF Foundation Cost • Real-world drivers ICF Foundation Cost in Ontario: What It Really Costs (and What Actually Moves the Price) If you’ve been trying to price an ICF foundation in Ontario, you’ve probably noticed…

Harvey
May 30, 2014
4 Comments

Miscellaneous

Mould During Construction: What Is Normal on a Wet Job Site, What Is Not, and What the Builder Should Do

Surface mould on framing after a rainy stretch is common, is not a structural problem, and cleans off; wood that has dried below about 19 percent moisture content before it is closed in is fine. What is not fine: drywall that got wet, materials stored on the ground under a tarp pulled tight, a basem

Harvey
May 18, 2014
2 Comments

Green Building, Miscellaneous, Portfolio

Accessible Design for a Custom Home: The 40 Features Worth Building In Now, and the Ones Vancouver Made Law

Ontario's Building Code does not require accessibility features inside a single-family house; the decisions are yours. The ones that cost little or nothing when the house is framed and a lot later: one zero-step entry under a roof, 36-inch doors and 42-inch halls, a bedroom and a full bath on the ma

Harvey
May 4, 2014
1 Comment

Miscellaneous, Ontario Custom Home Builder, Portfolio

What a Home Builder Actually Does: The 49 Trades, the Permit, the Schedule, the Money and the Phone That Never Stops

A home builder in Ontario is the manager of the whole project: licensed by the HCRA and enrolled with Tarion for a new home, responsible for the permit and the inspections, the estimate and the contract, hiring and scheduling the trades, buying the materials, checking the work before the inspector d

Harvey
April 29, 2014
5 Comments

Green Building, Miscellaneous, Portfolio

Steel Frame Homes in Ontario: What Light-Gauge Steel Does Well, Where It Leaks Heat, and How It Compares

Light-gauge steel framing is a Code-recognized way to frame a house in Ontario: cold-formed galvanized studs and joists, screwed together, sheathed and finished like wood. It is dimensionally stable, non-combustible, rot- and insect-proof, recyclable and light. Its weakness is thermal bridging: a st

Harvey
April 2, 2014
6 Comments

Miscellaneous, Portfolio

Home Security for a New Build: What to Wire In Before Drywall, Wired vs Wireless, Monitoring, and What the Insurer Pays You For

Before the drywall, run wire to every exterior door and ground-floor window for contacts, to two or three motion sensor corners, to the panel location in the mechanical room or a closet with power and the internet feed, Cat6 to each camera and doorbell position under the soffits and at the garage, a

Harvey
March 30, 2014

Green Building, Miscellaneous, New Home Financing

Home Price vs Lifetime Cost: Why the Cheapest House to Buy Is the Most Expensive House to Own

The price of a house is the first-time cost. The lifetime cost adds the mortgage interest, taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance and the replacement of everything that wears out, and over thirty years in Ontario the operating and replacement costs of a code-minimum house roughly equal its purchas

Harvey
March 22, 2014

Miscellaneous, New Home Financing

How to Lower Home Insurance Costs on a New Build in Ontario: The Decisions During Construction That Cut the Premium for Thirty Years

Build the house the underwriter likes: a non-combustible structure (ICF or masonry earns a construction discount with most insurers), a steel or Class A roof, a monitored alarm with cellular backup, a water leak shut-off valve with sensors and a freeze sensor, a battery-backed sump and a backwater v

Harvey
March 20, 2014
1 Comment

Green Building, Insulated Concrete Forms

ICF R-Value: What the Label Says, What the Wall Does, and Why an R-22 ICF Wall Outperforms an R-22 Frame Wall

A standard ICF block with about 2.5 inches of EPS foam each side carries a nominal R-22 to R-24; thicker-panel blocks reach R-26 to R-30. Because the foam is continuous with no studs, plates or headers through it, the effective value is nearly the same as the nominal, where a 2x6 wall with R-22 batt

Harvey
March 17, 2014
6 Comments

Electrical

How to Wire a New House for the Next 30 Years: Panel, Circuits, Low Voltage and the Things You Cannot Add Later

Plan the electrical for the house you will have in 2040, not the one you move into: a 200 amp panel (or a load-managed 200 with room for an EV, a heat pump and a future suite), an EV charger circuit to the garage, a generator or battery transfer provision, Cat6 home-run to every TV, desk and access

Harvey
March 17, 2014
1 Comment

Exteriors, Miscellaneous, Portfolio, Windows and Doors

Buying a Front Entry Door for an Ontario House: Fibreglass, Steel or Wood, the Energy Numbers, and the Details That Keep the Cold Out

For most Ontario houses the answer is a fibreglass door: it does not dent, rust or rot, takes stain or paint, carries a foam core with a whole-door U-value around 0.9 to 1.3 W/m2K, and lasts the life of the house. Steel is the budget choice, strong and well insulated but it dents and can rust at a s

Harvey
March 14, 2014
1 Comment

Miscellaneous, New Home Financing, Ontario Custom Home Builder

Price Per Square Foot for a New Home: Why Two Quotes on the Same Plan Can Both Be Honest and $100 Apart

Price per square foot is a budgeting tool, not a comparison tool. Builders measure square feet differently (outside of wall or inside, basement in or out, garage in or out, two-storey spaces once or twice), include different things in the price (site work, septic, allowances, HST), and build to diff

Harvey
March 4, 2014

Insulation, Miscellaneous

Ice Dams: Why Your Roof Grows Icicles, How to Stop It for Good, and What Not to Do This Winter

An ice dam forms when heat escaping into the attic melts the underside of the snow, the meltwater runs down to the cold eave and refreezes, and the ridge of ice backs water up under the shingles. The permanent fix is in the attic, not on the roof: seal the air leaks (pot lights, plumbing stacks, top

Harvey
February 28, 2014

Miscellaneous, Flooring and Finishes, Portfolio

Flooring What You Need To Know – Your home décor starts on the floor

Ontario builder advice Hardwood • tile • vinyl • engineered Comfort, durability & resale Flooring What You Need To Know – Your home décor starts on the floor Flooring is one of those decisions people think is mostly about colour,…

Harvey
February 27, 2014

Miscellaneous, Ontario Custom Home Builder

10 Steps to Building a New Home

Ontario new builds permits + inspections budget control builder reality 10 Steps to Building a New Home in Ontario: The No-Surprises Guide (2026) “Building a new home” sounds simple until you’re three months in, your decisions are stacked like pancakes,…

Harvey
February 24, 2014
28 Comments

Flooring and Finishes, Green Building, Miscellaneous, Portfolio

Formaldehyde in a New House: Where It Comes From, What Health Canada Says, and How to Build It Out

Formaldehyde is a gas released mainly by urea-formaldehyde glues in particleboard, MDF and hardwood plywood (cabinets, shelving, some flooring and furniture), by some finishes and fabrics, and by combustion. Health Canada's residential guideline is a long-term limit of 50 micrograms per cubic metre

Harvey
February 24, 2014

Miscellaneous, Ontario Custom Home Builder, Portfolio

Dream Home Plans: What People Ask For, What They Actually Use, and How to Get the Plan That Fits the Life You Have

The dream home plan and the lived-in home plan are different drawings. The rooms that get drawn and never used: the formal living room, the dedicated theatre, the 500-bottle cellar, the office that becomes a box room, the spa bathroom used for a six-minute shower. The things that get forgotten: a mu

Harvey
February 20, 2014
3 Comments

Exteriors, Flooring and Finishes, Miscellaneous

House Paint 101: Why a $90 Gallon Beats a $30 Gallon, Which Sheen Goes Where, and Exterior Paint That Survives an Ontario Winter

Paint is pigment, binder and solvent. Cheap latex uses clay and chalk fillers and a vinyl-acrylic binder; good paint uses titanium dioxide and 100 percent acrylic, which is why it covers in fewer coats, scrubs clean and holds colour. For a new house: a quality primer on fresh drywall, then two coats

Harvey
February 19, 2014
4 Comments

Electrical, Portfolio

Buying LED Fixtures for a New House: The Six Specifications That Separate a Good Light From a Cheap One

Check six things: CRI of 90 or better where it matters (80 is the cheap default and makes food and faces grey); colour consistency across fixtures (buy one brand, one batch, and look for a tight binning spec); beam angle that matches the job (wide for general, narrow for accent); a real heat sink, b

Harvey
February 16, 2014
1 Comment